Oolite Bulletins

Posted: **Wed Dec 22, 2010 6:19 pm**

I have an old chap (John) who lives around the corner from me. We invited him round one evening not long after we moved to the area (2003) and he spotted a picture I have on my wall of my grandfather when he was in the RAF.

Lots of war stories and whiskies later...

I saw him, now sadly in a wheelchair, up at the Remembrance day service this year. He beckoned me to him and said, "Got something for you, ol' boy."

And then I got this amazing yarn about how he'd crashed a Tiger Moth biplane into a fence when he was young. I asked him why he'd crashed it and he said, "Arsing about in front of m' mates of course." Thought it was probably 'one of those stories'.

Thought nothing much more of it until we went to his house this afternoon for a Christmas visit.

Gave me a wink and said, "Here you go, ol' chap." (I'm always an ol something).

Huge great (old) photo album... and with special permission, I present....

"The last flight of Tiger Moth NM176 at the capable hands of one Major John Rees, 1941."

He came in too low over a fence, and clipped the tail at about 50 mph. Crashed and was hanging there upside down for ten minutes whilst his mates just laughed at him. Apparently, he had to pay for it too!

Cheers,

Drew.

Posted: **Wed Dec 22, 2010 6:42 pm**

Ouch ...

Good thing he got out of there in one piece! Going head over tail at 80km/h and ending up under the plane can't have been too healthy ...

Great story!

Posted: **Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:44 pm**

Rather more poignantly, he was the only one of 'his mates' to make it through the war...

Cheers,

Drew.

Posted: **Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:58 pm**

Great story Drew! Thank-you for sharing.

Posted: **Wed Dec 22, 2010 8:10 pm**

A bygone age, sadly. Wonderful yarn, though. Thanks

Posted: **Wed Dec 22, 2010 9:49 pm**

When next you see him, tell him 'Thank you' for both his service and his willingness to share in his moment of "Fame".

Posted: **Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:42 pm**

That's an amazing story and amazing pictures to go with it!

Thanks for that, Drew, and pass on my thanks to Major Rees please!

Posted: **Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:15 am**

"Arsing about in front of m' mates of course."

He came in too low over a fence, and clipped the tail at about 50 mph. Crashed and was hanging there upside down for ten minutes whilst his mates just laughed at him. Apparently, he had to pay for it too!

Cheers,

Drew.

What can one possibly say that will fully capture the grandeur of an event like that, oh I know....

Right on Commander!

Posted: **Thu Dec 23, 2010 9:17 pm**

Well, looking at that picture, "Press Space" would fit better...

Posted: **Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:41 am**

Any landing you can walk away from is a good one ...

Posted: **Fri Dec 24, 2010 10:50 am**

Disembodied wrote:
Any landing you can walk away from is a good one ...

But as I understand it, he didn't walk away...he hung around for a while

Posted: **Fri Dec 24, 2010 12:16 pm**

Perhaps "Any landing you can eventually walk away from..."

Cheers,

Drew.

Posted: **Sat Dec 25, 2010 4:13 am**

Just goes to show escape pods ARE worth it!

Posted: **Sat Dec 25, 2010 5:46 am**

And a landing in which the aircraft can be reused is a great one!

Posted: **Sat Dec 25, 2010 9:00 pm**

drew wrote:
Rather more poignantly, he was the only one of 'his mates' to make it through the war...

Cheers,

Drew.

This is really, really sad... Thanks for sharing Drew.

Oolite Bulletins

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